Anxiety and Depression Starting Up Again

[Nuggsie]

Hello fellow beyond blue peeps,

Well I've been struggling for the last 5 years with depression and anxiety. I seem to go up a down every few months but I haven't been coping so well for the last month. Work is extremely stressful and unhappy, I have had several incidents were I have felt bullied by my supervisor over the last month. Now I keep getting those waves of anxiety that go over your body and make me you feel sick and hot. I don't want to be at work anymore, this is not a happy place for me anymore, I can't sleep, I can hardly eat, all I think about is work all the time and how much I hate it. I've been here for 8 years so it makes it hard to leave when you have to give 5 weeks notice but it's affecting my mental health. 

I feel desperate, unhappy and just want to crawl under a rock.

I'm on the max dosage for my antidepressants, I also take a tricyclic antidepressant and a neurological pain blocker (suffer from chronic pain as well), I've had to start taking my benzo's again to help with the anxiety. I don't think I can make it through another med change. I was nearly admitted to the pysch ward against my will in November last year because of the last med change made me loopy. I don't want to have to do it again.

I live in a regional area so its normally a 6 week wait to see a psychiatrist or psychologist.

Thanks for listening

Nuggsie 

[Zeal]

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear you're being ill-treated at work. You certainly don't deserve this.

Do you live alone, or with a partner or family? Depression and anxiety are tough, especially when experienced together. If you don't mind me asking, have you ever adjusted your dose, or introduced/reintroduced meds, without the advice of your doctor or psychiatrist? It's important to be consistent with dosages. As I'm sure you're aware, abruptly stopping medication without first seeking professional advice and not weaning off the dose causes side effects, including elevated anxiety!

I'm sorry to hear your mental health became so severe that you needed a hospital stay. When you're in dangerous territory though, this sometimes is the best solution, temporarily.

Living in a regional area, as you've said, does make it harder to access mental health services. Perhaps you could also seek help online, so that you have more constant help, as well as psychology or psychiatry appointments in your area. There are online programs and studies which provide mental health assistance. Look on this site - I think there is an online help program available. I haven't personally tried this, but it would be worth a look. If you need immediate advice or help, you can always phone beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.

I hope you are also able to find a solution for your work situation 🙂

Take care,

SM

[Nuggsie]

HI SM,

thank you for your reply. I have an appointment with my GP so I'm going to discuss trying to get in to see my old psychologist.